Question Number: 25195

Law 11 - Offside 7/11/2011

RE: Certified District Under 18

Josef Lindl of Mission, BC Canada asks...

Concerning Offside:
Having read, among other things, Fifa, and Mr. Chuck Fleischer's 'Offside Explained', I still find a vagueness concerning one particular aspect to the infamous Law 11.

When a defender, in full control of the ball, plays a poor pass back to the keeper, and an attacker, already in an offside position to begin with, takes advantage of the situation and runs to intercept that bad pass: is he to be flagged? The opponent 'misplayed' the ball, despite having been in full possession of it; and the attacker gains a clear advantage from his offside position.

I have heard contrary and affirmation; but my main question is what Fifa has to say.

Sorry if this question is repetitive.

Thanks,
Josef

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Josef:

Every attacker is eligible to play the ball whenever the ball was last controlled and possessed by a defender.

There are two ways we get to the same conclusion. First, offside position 'resets' every time the ball is possessed and controlled by the opponent. Thus, when the red team possesses and controls the ball, no one from the blue team is in offside position. The referee will reconsider whether any blue players are in offside position the next time the ball is touched by a blue teammate.

Second, 'gaining an advantage' has one specific definition: touching the ball after it deflects off an opponent or rebounds off the crossbar/goal post. Since the ball did not deflect off an opponent, the player cannot be judged to be 'gaining an advantage' from being in an offside position.

Only the referee can decide if the ball was deflected (offside) or possessed and controlled (not offside) by the defender.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The player making a back-pass may have made an error, in that the player missed seeing an opponent who intercepted the pass. But that is not a miskicked or misdirected the ball; it's an unfortunate choice (or fortunate, if you're rooting for the other team). A miskick would be if on the first touch the ball was shanked off in a direction that the player didn't expect it to go.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The ball was controlled and played by an opponent. Perhaps the ball didn't go exactly where the opponent wanted or perhaps the opponent didn't see the offside positioned attacker but it doesn't matter. Law 11 is very clear: offside position is ONLY judged when the ball is touched or played by a teammate. Even had the opponent shanked the kick, if he had already established possession by dribbling the ball the offside positioned attacker is still free to play the ball.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 25217